Third quarters belong to Warriors' Stephen Curry

SAN ANTONIO -- Stephen Curry didn't even have full control of the ball. Trying to execute a crossover, he lost the handle for a second and the ball rolled to his left. Curry, a step inside the 3-point arc, picked it up and immediately hoisted a shot. And there was no doubt in his mind it was going in.

"I was feeling good," Curry said. "The easy answer say I practice that over the summer . . . Ask the coach to throw a bunch of bad passes, or in a drill just mess up a dribble move and pick it up."

It was perhaps the most ridiculous shot in a ridiculous stretch, which is proving not to be so ridiculous for Curry.

For the second time in these playoffs, Curry scored 22 points in the third quarter. In Game 3 against Denver at Oracle Arena, he scored 19 points in a four-minute stretch to blow open the game. This time, at the AT&T Center, he scored 14 points during a three-minute stretch to give the Warriors an 18-point lead.

In his first ever playoffs, seven games so far, he is averaging 12.3 points in third quarters on 69.6 percent shooting, including 17 of 26 from 3-point range.

He has changed the tide of multiple games, leaving defenses at a loss for words.

Why is this happening? Curry seems to be a different player coming out of the locker room at halftime. He tends to spend the first half setting up his teammate, getting a feel for the game. By the start of third quarter he has a plan for attack and is more aggressive looking for his shot.

It also helps when opposing defenses leave him with one-on-one coverage. Curry is convinced he can get his shot against just about any guard. After all the traps and double teams he sees, he's licking his chops at the sight of a fellow point guard in front of him.